


Snow Leopards of Covert Chiba.

by RussianSunflower3



Series: Sunflower's HanaIwa week [7]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Caracal!, Gosh damn I love big cats, Lynx!, M/M, Serval!, Snow leopards of Leafy London AU, Snow leopards!, Wildcat sanctuary
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-16
Updated: 2016-10-09
Packaged: 2018-08-09 05:08:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 16,204
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7787848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RussianSunflower3/pseuds/RussianSunflower3
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Chiba is a province of towering cities and bustling street life. It's not likely that anyone could hide a huge secret here without the whole city knowing.<br/>And yet, towards the quieter areas of Chiba, hidden behind a dainty farm shop just down the road from a pub, there's a wildcat sanctuary built into Iwaizumi's back garden.</p>
<p>(Snow Leopards of Leafy London AU)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Meet the children. (Spoiler; They're cats.)

Chiba is a bustling province in Japan, covered with built up cities and towering skyscrapers, extensive train networks and traffic-clogged roads. But if one knew where to look, they would find a small farm shop, and beyond the back walls, in a large garden...

A Wildcat Rescue Sanctuary. 

Hidden away beneath blossom trees and tall conifers, four large enclosures span the area behind the tiny farm shop, a secret that only the local community are aware of. It’s run by Iwaizumi Hajime, who suffered an ankle injury in a college volleyball tournament and managed to complete a veterinarian course whilst he healed. He has a permanent limp, but it’s not something that stops him. 

The four enclosures are constantly occupied by a number of felines. In the smallest one, a caracal that was mistaken for a lost pet cat and brought to the sanctuary with a leg injury. Despite being wild, the caracal behaves tame, if not mischievous. It sleeps a lot, but plays the same amount - often stealing things from Iwaizumi’s pockets when he enters the enclosure to feed him. 

The caracal can easily be petted, but only by two people. Iwaizumi himself, and one of the other staff members, Iwaizumi’s partner; Hanamaki. They name the caracal Matsukawa, due to how quiet the species _generally_ is. They find the name does not fit at 3am every morning, when the caracal mewls and whines for company. Hanamaki usually ends up sleeping in the pen, cat-sized animal on his lap and a torn pillow behind his head.

The second enclosure is a safe area for an Iberian lynx. It had been sent to the sanctuary by one of Iwaizumi’s old university friends, having been found on a bust at the shipping yard. What they had thought to be a drug raid turned out being a rescue mission for hundreds of ‘exotic’ animals. Most of them were parrots or lizards, so the lynx had been a bit of a surprise, and it had been an emergency to find somewhere for it. Luckily for the lynx, Daichi Sawamura had been on the police team that came across it, and quickly contacted Iwaizumi.

The lynx had settled quickly, but also displayed aggression towards anyone encroaching on its new territory. At first, due to the behaviour of the big cat, they had been sure it was a male. It wasn’t safe to get close enough to check, and the sanctuary had a 99% holistic approach. Darting and tranquilising was forbidden unless it was the direst of circumstances. They named the lynx Kyoutani. The name stuck, even when – surprising everyone on sight – it was discovered the lynx was carrying kittens.

A third enclosure, the largest on sight, was currently occupied by two female snow leopards named Yui and Kiyoko. They were sisters from the same litter, saved from a zoo in Tokyo that had shut down. Whilst leopards were usually solitary animals, in captivity, it was common for them to share space. The reason for their large enclosure wasn’t just because there were two of them. It was going to become a breeding enclosure, as soon as the girls were of age.

Yui was the smaller of the two, but her muscle bulk made up for the few centimetres she lost over her sister. She was playful and lively, an affectionate bundle of fluff that was happy to be groomed, petted, and cuddled. One of Yui’s favourite toys was an eagle feather on a stick, poked through the fence and teasingly bobbed by whomever was nearby. 

Kiyoko was much more reserved, shyer at first glance. She much preferred to leisurely sprawl herself over the elevated wood platform, or hide in a shadowy patch of long grass. Still, even she was weak to the bristle brush, allowing staff members to run it through her thick fur. One of the most notable things about Kiyoko was that her spots were much larger and more frequent. For a snow leopard, she was closer to being black than white!

The last enclosure was a decent size, and home to Iwaizumi’s _favourite_. A male snow leopard, strong and large enough to kill a human effortlessly, that melted to absolute putty when Iwaizumi was nearby. Oikawa was more like a pet than a wild animal, raised from a cub that had been born by Iwaizumi’s first snow leopard, which unfortunately died during labour. Only one tiny cub had made it, and Iwaizumi had raised Oikawa from minutes old, to the three year old he was today. Oikawa was, undoubtedly, his son.

Sometimes, Hanamaki found himself jealous of the attention Iwaizumi lavished upon the snow leopard. As a newer member of staff, Hanamaki had actually found the place by being invited by Iwaizumi once day. He and Iwaizumi had met uptown, bumping into each other in the street. Hanamaki’s wallet had fallen from his pocket into a drain, and both men had stared at it in horror before Iwaizumi managed to fish it out with a cat toy, that he was going to modify into a leopard toy later.

Iwaizumi had then brought him lunch as an apology. At some point throughout the meal, things had just... Clicked. They exchanged numbers, met up a few more times, and started dating. So imagine Hanamaki’s surprise when Iwaizumi cancelled their first anniversary. Looking back on it now, it was one of the pivotal moments of his life, and perhaps the funniest.

_“Taka, I’m so sorry, there’s an emergency with Oikawa, I have to cancel.”_

_“Oikawa?”_

_“I haven’t told you about him? He’s my son.”_

_“You have a **son**?!”_

_“Yeah. I have to go, the vet’s here.”_

_“A vet?! Hajime, get a doctor for your child!”_

_“I don’t think a doctor would appreciate a snow leopard in the examination room. Gotta go! Call you later, Taka, I love you!” The phone call let out a long beep as Iwaizumi hung up, and Hanamaki was left holding the phone to his ear with wide eyes blankly staring at the wall in front of him. A snow leopard... Iwaizumi... Had a snow leopard..._

Shortly after that, Iwaizumi had invited Hanamaki to the sanctuary, absolutely beaming in pride as Hanamaki fawned over all the animals. When he’d seen how immediately attracted the animals were to his boyfriend, he’d offered Hanamaki a job as a partnership. It worked really well, since Hanamaki was a photographer for National Geographic. It hadn’t been long before Iwaizumi proposed, and they held their small wedding right in the middle of Oikawa’s enclosure.

Regrettably, the snow leopard got to the cake (baked safe for big cats!) before anybody else could get a slice. And he didn’t like sharing.

Hanamaki huffs a small laugh, pressing his lips against Iwaizumi’s shoulder blade from where they’re cuddled up in bed, shirtless with the covers thrown off. It’s a warm night, but that doesn’t stop entangled legs and comfy spooning. Iwaizumi grumbles at the brush of hot air over his shoulder, wrenching an eye open.

“What’re you doin’...?”

“Just thinking about the past~.” Iwaizumi huffs a soft chuckle, pressing backwards into Hanamaki’s warmth. 

“Cute, but I don’t really think now is the appropriate time.”

“I have no idea what you mean. It’s only... 2:47 in the morning.” Hanamaki keeps his eyes on the clock as he watches it tick over to 2:48, narrowing his eyes.

“Hajime. You know what’s going to happen next, don’t you?”

“Unfortunately...” He lets out a heavy sigh, and – as if he had his own clock to check – the caracal starts to call loudly. Without fail, Matsukawa does this every night, until someone goes to sit with him. Iwaizumi thinks that may actually be his own fault, since he stayed with the feline every night as a kitten, trying to settle him into his enclosure. It became a habit hard to break, until Matsukawa reached 2 years old. 

Since then, the caracal disallows anyone on site to sleep unless he has one of his two favourite people with him. Or both. He’s a little bit spoiled, but neither Iwaizumi nor Hanamaki would have him either way.

“You jinxed it, you go.”

“Wha-?! Hajime, nooo! There are so many bitey bugs outside, and I’m sensitive.”

“You’re his favourite.”

“You’ve known him longer.”

“... Then we’ll both go.” Iwaizumi pushes himself up from the mattress, leaving Hanamaki to whine at the loss of cuddles. Somehow, Matsukawa must hear it, because he yowls a little louder. There’s the distinctive rattle of the enclosure fences, where he’s started to jump at them. 

“Come on~.” Iwaizumi slaps the back of his hand against Hanamaki’s bare thigh in a gentle and encouraging way, prompting him to slowly shuffle after Iwaizumi. Sluggishly, they dress in full-length trousers and long shirts, because as tame as Matsukawa may behave, he’s still a wildcat, with sharp claws and long fangs. There’s no guarantee he would behave how they expected him to, or that something wouldn’t provoke him into attacking. That had been proven when he’d attacked a volunteer worker, and Iwaizumi had managed to narrow the cause down to a _perfume_.

“I’m ready. You?” Iwaizumi nods through a yawn. He should be used to this routine by now, but 3am always sees him struggling to rise. They have to hurry; if Matsukawa keeps yowling and demanding attention, it’ll set Oikawa off. Oikawa is _**not**_ easy to comfort when he’s tired, grumpy, and clingy. Hand-in-hand, the duo make their way through the narrow stone pathways over to the caracal enclosure, where Matsukawa’s russet fur is unmistakable as he rubs up against the fencing, purring loudly at the sight of his favourite humans.

His forehead is marked by two thick black streaks, which Hanamaki affectionately refers to as eyebrows, and the inner tufts of his ears are a pale sandy shade. Even though it’s only just nearing dawn, Matsukawa is clear to see in his home. Hanamaki crouches down and coos softly, scratching the top of Matsukawa’s head as Iwaizumi opens the gate and edges into the area. Avoiding bamboo stalks, he manages to get within range and scoops Matsukawa up in his arms, baby style.

“Hello, noisy one~. Are we _ever_ going to get sleep with you around?” Matsukawa purrs, butting his head against Iwaizumi’s chin like he’s proud of his mischief making. Iwaizumi softly laughs and makes a chuffing sound to relax the little wildcat, before placing him back on the ground. He makes a dash for Hanamaki, who is just stepping in the entrance. He has a trusty broom in his hands; the wood scratched and marred by many big cat encounters, and uses it to stop Matsukawa slinking around his ankles and possibly towards freedom.

“Ah-ah, back you go... Oi, let me in!” He has to nudge Matsukawa with the bristly end of the broom, and the caracal simply responds by jumping up to the nearest surface and batting a paw at some flyaway strands of Hanamaki’s bedhead. Whilst Hanamaki ducks to avoid the sharp claws, Iwaizumi makes a disciplinary sound, almost like a growl, and hooks a finger around Matsukawa’s ankle, holding the large paw back.

“No. We don’t do that. Stop being naughty.” Matsukawa, of course, doesn’t truly understand the human language. Instead, he flicks his tail smugly and nibbles gently on Iwaizumi’s finger. Rolling his eyes, Iwaizumi lets him. It keeps the caracal distracted for long enough that Hanamaki can drag in a couple of sleeping bags, and set them up in a clean corner. He settles in, and as soon as Matsukawa catches a glimpse of his _favourite_ favourite person, he leaps down from the raised platform and jogs over to Hanamaki.

“Alright, time to sleep now. You little devil, waking us up. We were having _cuddle time_ , Matsukawa, cuddle time!” The sly cat purrs as if he understands and then looks to Iwaizumi with his tail flicking in impatience. Iwaizumi sighs, kneeling down on the sleeping bag and ruffling through the russet fur to tug out any knots before he moves to lie down, using Hanamaki’s shoulder as his pillow. Matsukawa pads over their laps a few times, causing a couple of pained groans, before he neatly wedges himself perfectly between them, sprawled out from their ankles to their thighs. Hanamaki can’t resist scratching his chin, until Matsukawa’s purrs drift off into blissful silence.

“I think I’ll follow his lead~... G’night, Hajime.”

“Night, Taka. Love you.”

“Love you too.” As tired as they are, they share a tiny peck on the lips before both men are drifting off to sleep together, Hanamaki with a torn pillow, and Iwaizumi with Hanamaki’s shoulder. They almost look like a little family, with a caracal instead of a child.


	2. "Hajime, no" "Hajime yes."

A pair of Serval.

Occasionally, Iwaizumi would find people dropping off all manner of things at the farm shop in front of the sanctuary. Ducks, chickens, geese, deer and guinea pigs made great treats for the cats. Anything alive was rehabilitated and released. But those were usually small to medium back garden animals.

Not two wildcats. 

For a moment, Iwaizumi stood there confused, wondering what to do. It was only when one of the Serval – the tiny one – gave a little mew that Iwaizumi briskly walked forwards and knelt down in front of the small cage. 

“Hey there, little one...” He was about to stick a finger through the metal grate when the larger of the two raised its hackles and hissed ferociously. Iwaizumi knew it was a defensive mechanism, nothing personal.

“Don’t be like that, sweetheart. I need to check you over, okay?” Gently, risking his fingers and hands, Iwaizumi prodded around the cage to nudge the two cats in a 360 rotation, visually checking them over. He noted that neither of them was more than 6 or 7 months, and the smaller one appeared to have sustained an injury to its back leg, just a small scrape.

“Poor little things... I suppose I’ll have to find somewhere for you to squeeze in... I wonder if Matsukawa wants company.” Long claws almost catch his hand as he picks the cage up by the small handle, and Iwaizumi swears under his breath at how _agitated_ the larger of the Serval pair is. This one is not going to be friendly when first released. Whoever dropped these Servals off at the gate certainly hasn’t taken care of them as animals should be. One is cautious and quiet, as if there’s something constantly watching over them ready to berate or abuse; the other is frightened and aggressive. It’s going to take a lot of conditioning to get them back to behaving like _cats_.

“Hajime, what have you got there?” Hanamaki comes trotting over and instantly backpedals with wide eyes when the larger Serval hisses at him ferociously.

“...Woah.”

“Yeah, whoa. I’m going to release them into the vet cubby-hole; can you call in as many volunteers and part-timers as possible? If we can just get that new enclosure finished, I can settle them in there.”

“Sure.” Hanamaki picks up the pace, entering through the main farm shop doors. He slinks behind the counter – behind Aone who is currently working the tills – and uses the old wall phone to ring in as many people as possibly, the small notepad attached to the desk below to the phone containing all the contact information he needs.

In little more than ten minutes, he has a workforce of 33 guaranteed plus 18 attempting to come and help with the construction. Originally, the plan had been to finish building sometime in October, and bring in a couple of pumas. Things just never go to plan though, and this is one surprise Hanamaki actually expected. Iwaizumi is always taking in lost wildcats, even temporarily or just for rehabilitation and release. The two servals look like they’ll be permanent fixtures, if Iwaizumi gets his way. 

With a written list of who’ll be attending with the building project, Hanamaki makes his way to the cubby-holes. They’re very small indoor areas, only suitable for quarantine or waiting for the vet to arrive. In this scenario, however, it’s all they have. As Hanamaki approaches, he can see Iwaizumi kneeling down in front of the clear window, watching the two servals curled up around each other, the larger one grooming and protecting the smaller.

“Yahaba and Watari.”

“Hmm?”

“The bigger one is Yahaba. The smaller one is Watari.” With a sigh, Hanamaki rolls his eyes and crouches down next to Iwaizumi, laying a hand on his back.

“What have I told you about naming them too early, Hajime~? Now you’ll get attached and we’ll never be able to send them away.” Iwaizumi looks at him with a genuinely baffled expression.

“Send them away? Why would we do that?”

“We- We don’t have room... Sure, the new enclosure will be _suitable_ , but I thought you were planning for that to be for a puma breeding project.” Iwaizumi shuffles on the ground, crossing his arms over and mumbles.

“I was, but... Look at them, Taka. They need a home.” Wide, green eyes look up at Hanamaki, begging with crystal tears and genuine innocence. He wants to say no. He _knows_ he should restrain Iwaizumi from making irrational decisions. He has to say no.

“Okay.”

 _“Why the fuck did I say that?!”_ Iwaizumi sits up straighter, eyes shining with crinkles at the corners and lips tugged up into a bright, beaming smile. Hanamaki’s heart melts a little bit, so he switches his gaze to the servals instead, moving to sit on the ground properly and leaning up against Iwaizumi’s side.

“I think they’re cute.”

“They are. Once the new enclosure is built, I’ll settle them in.” By ‘settle them in’, Iwaizumi means more than just getting the wildcats into their new home. It means he’ll also get them accustomed to being fed, brushed, and handled. Hanamaki had seen the process before, watching Kyoutani go from almost attacking, to being cooed at and stroked and given belly rubs in less than a week. The lynx was still edgy around strangers, but he was friendly towards Iwaizumi, and tolerated Hanamaki. He was also strangely affectionate towards Tsukishima, but that was probably because the part-timer kept sneaking him chicken drumsticks. If he was ever caught in the act, he would deadpan blame it upon “lynx’s have cravings too”. Weird kid, but Hanamaki found him entertaining and Iwaizumi was guiding him to become a sanctuary owner like himself.

“Think I can get some pictures whilst they’re still wild? My editor said he wants to see more ‘drama’ in the photos, instead of big cats acting like... Well... Little cats.”

“Your editor can go fuck himself.”

“My editor pays me.”

“Your editor is a wonderful person and yes, you may take some ‘wild’ photos.” Leaning in towards Iwaizumi, Hanamaki chuckles softly and breathes warm, enticing air over Iwaizumi’s lips.

“You change your tune quickly~.” Iwaizumi steals the kiss, his lips barely parting from Hanamaki’s as he softly responds.

“I’ll _always_ love you.” A soft mewl interrupts them. The smaller serval – the one Iwaizumi had dubbed Watari – has padded up to the window, pressing his paws against the glass and meowing loudly. Through the pane, it sounds tiny, but Iwaizumi is pretty confident in the fact that he’s probably about as loud as Matsukawa. Yahaba paces anxiously behind Watari, glaring out the window every now and then, whilst also watching the metal sliding hatch that Iwaizumi had ushered them through in the first place.

The cubby-hole is larger than the cage they were trapped in, that’s for sure, but the nervous wild animals probably want something small to hide in, rather than being in an open room that’s only lined with straw. Watari – like most cats with their first window encounter – must think that the reflection in the glass panel is a dark box. Iwaizumi frowns, deep and hurt, like he’s feeling the pain of these newcomers.

“I- I have to find a box for them. Did we get a delivery in lately?”

“Uh, yeah. We had some hamster cages ordered in.” 

“Perfect.” Iwaizumi claps his hands and rises, intent on finding the box from that delivery, because it will be big enough for both serval, without being _too_ big that they feel unprotected. Hanamaki is offered a hand up, taking it and teasingly pretending he’s too heavy to be lifted. He should know by now, that doesn’t work with Iwaizumi, whom steps forwards, wraps an arm backwards around his waist, and heaves him into a fireman’s hold. Hanamaki squeals and kicks as Iwaizumi’s fingers dig into his ribs, teasingly tickling him whilst he can’t escape.

By the time the reach ‘The Pile’, an area where rubbish from the farm house is deposited until routinely emptied every other week; Hanamaki is out of breath and wheezing through tiny peels of giggles, red in the face and lungs heaving. It feels good in his belly, the kind of happiness that only comes from almost unbearable joy. His heart skips a beat as Iwaizumi lets him down, their eyes meeting for a moment, filled with a gentle love that is accentuated by soft smiles. Iwaizumi clears his throat and averts his gaze as he starts to blush.

“R-Right, let’s find that box.” It doesn’t take long to find, practically near the top of the pile, and Iwaizumi sweeps it up with an accomplished grin. He props the box on his left hip, hand underneath to keep it in place. His right hand links with Hanamaki’s, and they stroll back to the cubby-holes with their arms swinging between them. Hanamaki remembers to recover the trusty broom from near Matsukawa’s enclosure, bringing it over for the sake of their legs from the thigh down. Those two servals have dangerous claws that are extremely sharp, he can determine from sight alone. It looks like they’ve never had a scratching post, or been allowed on a surface good enough for grinding the claws down. They’re overgrown, and most likely horrifically painful.

“Hajime, don’t just go in there! Take the broom!”

“Huh? I’m putting a box in, not sweeping.”

“No, no... I mean, for protection.” Iwaizumi raises an eyebrow with an expression of distaste as he stares at the broom. Rolling his eyes, Hanamaki pushes it into his chest.

“Take it. For my peace of mind.” 

“... I don’t like it... But I’ll do it for you.” He takes the broom with a heavy, childish pout, squeezing himself through the sliding hatch that’s easily big enough for a full-grown snow leopard. And boy, is he glad that Hanamaki forced the broom onto him. The larger serval comes charging at him and jumps for his head. Iwaizumi spins the broom around in his grip so that the bristly end protects him. Softly, he makes chuffing and relaxed purring noises, shrinking as low as he can so that he appears less of a threat. Yahaba tilts his head in confusion, too-large ears flopping to the side with him. It makes Iwaizumi chuckle a little, so he chuffs again and Yahaba tilts his head in the other direction. 

“You’re not as aggressive as you make out~.” Slowly, Iwaizumi moves the box over to the corner, placing it upside down and tearing out a small entrance. Yahaba pads over to investigate, still wary of Iwaizumi and avoiding his reach. On the other hand, Watari mews and trots over to Iwaizumi with curious confidence. His wet nose presses against Iwaizumi’s offered hand, whiskers tickling his callous covered skin. 

“Hey, little cutie.” The softer Iwaizumi’s tone gets, the more the serval investigates, planting himself fully on Iwaizumi’s lap with paws on his cheeks, and rough tongue sweeping through messy black hair. Occasionally, he nips, but Iwaizumi knows this is just how the little wildcat is exploring and evaluating. He admonishes with a low hiss if the nip is too hard, but Watari seems to be a quick learner, as well as a huge, friendly softy. He curls up in Iwaizumi’s lap, stretching the leg Iwaizumi thought was injured out behind him. 

“Let’s give this a check over, hmm?” Brushing his fingers over the small scrape, the serval flinches every now and then, and at one point, nudges Iwaizumi’s delicate touch out the way to groom the small area.

“Just a shallow cut, Watari. We’ll get some cream on that and it’ll heal up good as new. Now, let’s check your dental health.” In a chancy move, Iwaizumi pries open the serval jaws and takes a good peek around, even nudging with his little finger against a tooth that looks rather out-of-sorts. Watari’s gums are a much lighter pink than they should be, almost devoid of colour, which shows he’s dehydrated and been on a diet of things much too fatty for his needs. From the teeth alone, Iwaizumi determines he was right about the age estimate. Watari is only 5 months old, and Yahaba doesn’t look more than that. Iwaizumi will only be able to check if he can get near the rougher cat.

He allows Watari to curl up and sleep on his lap, pulling a file from his back pocket and carefully working on the nails. It’s got to be a little bit painful, but Watari doesn’t stir. It’s an indication that he’s used to a substantial amount of hurt; either from general neglect, or abuse. Internally, Iwaizumi fumes and rages. But he knows his anger would be sensed by the servals, so he softly coos and strokes through Watari’s thin but beautiful fur. It should be thicker and silkier, but that will come with good nutrition and plenty of love. 

Love that Iwaizumi is sure to give through grooming, petting, and socialising the young wildcats. Peering over towards the box in the corner, Iwaizumi can see that Yahaba has made himself very comfortable, his head poking out from the box, covered in straw except for his delicately pink nose. He’s wary of strangers and timid, but aggressive when backed into a corner, and Iwaizumi can see the toll it’s starting to take. The pink nose twitches rapidly, like little lungs are struggling for air as the hidden serval panics. Slowly, making continuous ‘safe’ noises, Iwaizumi nudges Watari towards the box as he stands, and crawls out of the cubby-hole.

“Taka, can we-? Taka?” He looks around, but Hanamaki isn’t there. It feels like time is altered from where he’s been sitting with the serval, and it takes him a moment to remember the construction that should be getting started very soon. Quickly, Iwaizumi picks up a jog as he heads over to the area where the new enclosure foundations were laid down last week. It wasn’t meant to be complete for a month, but this is now a state of emergency, and there are cats that need a home.

Fortunately, there are many kind hearts in and around the sanctuary area. Some come from further into the city of Chiba, and others are literally a five minute walk away. These people that volunteer or work at the sanctuary/farm shop keep the place alive and the animals healthy. Every single one of them matters so much, because it keeps the leopards and their pals in a safe and wonderful home. Eventually, once they introduce Oikawa to Yui and Kiyoko, it _should_ lead to their contribution in the India breeding trust, with plans to release the cubs into a nature reserve once they no longer need raising from their parents.

“Iwaizumi!” A chorus of hello’s and welcomes come up from the group as he approaches and Iwaizumi softly chuckles and dips his head bashfully. As much as he loves the kindness, he’s never really gotten used to the attention of being ‘famous’ within the community, and he retreats to stand just behind Hanamaki, using his wonderful partner as a shield for his shyness. Hanamaki doesn’t stop in reading out the clipboard he holds – telling people what to do and when to do it – but the corners of his lips twitch upwards and he loops an arm behind him for Iwaizumi to hold onto behind him.

“- And that’s it! Alright, let’s get started on this and then we’ll get some lunch together! Hajime’s treat!” Iwaizumi splutters, but the crowd cheers and laughs merrily, so he pinches Hanamaki side to reprimand him, whilst also agreeing to it. There’s a pub down the road that does amazing meals for reasonable prices, and since the pub owner and three bartenders are here helping with construction, the _least_ Iwaizumi can do is pay them back for the lost business with all these customers.

With the crowd dispersed and no longer looking directly at him, Iwaizumi sinks into the situation nicely, Hanamaki by his side. They’re both hands on with the project, helping out where they can like proper leaders, instead of just lording over the people who have taken time out of their own lives to help save two homeless servals. It’s emotionally moving, and has Iwaizumi sweeping ‘sweat’ away from his face several times. Hanamaki often disappears from his side to guide and instruct anyone that asks him questions, or is blatantly confused at what they should be doing.

Iwaizumi is a pillar of strength, but Hanamaki is a pillar of knowledge and guidance, easily engaging in conversations and putting everyone at ease as he leads them effortlessly through their roles. Eventually, and with everyone’s permission, he finds his camera and starts taking photos. It might not be wildlife, but he can still submit it to his editor for the Conservation section of the magazine. The more good people see being done, they more they might be encouraged to do it themselves. _Especially_ since this is literally a sanctuary in the back garden of a small shop near the city.

Seven hours later, and Iwaizumi has ushered the serval back into a small carry cage, like a proper cat carrier but slightly larger, and brings them over to the new enclosure. It’s been constructed to have a large outdoor area, as well as two separate indoor areas, just in case each serval wants their own nest. The outside is fitted with a pond, tall grass, and dry reeds on one side, and plenty of high platforms and rocks with bamboo thickets on the other side. It’s an ideal habitat, mirroring the two places they would generally be found in the wild. 

“Off you go, sweethearts.” With a soft whisper, Iwaizumi releases them into the indoor area, Hanamaki lifting the hatches to outdoors. From here, they can’t see the defining moment, but as soon as Yahaba is out the carrier, he sprints towards outside and up to the highest platform, ears twitching, nose going like crazy, and eyes surveying the landscape. Servals are very high energy, so Iwaizumi was expecting one if not both of them to start doing laps. Yahaba’s instant climb is along the lines of his expectations, even more so when he starts to pounce from ledge to ledge, scent-marking along the way.

Watari takes his time, observing the inside first. He pauses to take a drink from the water bowl in there, but hesitates at the food, like he doesn’t know how to eat it. He licks the fish that lies in there, but asides from a couple of nibbles, he doesn’t really bite into it. Iwaizumi’s brow furrows.

“I’m starting to think they’ve been raised on milk. Either full-fat or semi skinned. That would explain the state of their teeth and unhealthy shape...” Hanamaki humms with worry, trailing his fingertips over Iwaizumi’s shoulder.

“What’re we gonna do...?”

“... Have we still got that blender your aunt got us?”

“Yes?” Hanamaki draws out the word, raising one eyebrow and face twisted with confusion. Iwaizumi makes a ‘huh’ sound, pushing himself up from the ground. He walks towards the house, and Hanamaki instantly clocks on.

“Hajime, no! You are not doing that!”

“What else did you think I was asking for? If they can’t eat solids, maybe they can manage a milkshake.”

“Don’t blend the fish!”

“ _I’m gonna blend the fish_.”

One sardine smoothie and grinning Iwaizumi later, the servals were fed and settling in nicely with full stomachs, lying out in the evening sun and ready to get active at twilight.


	3. Marmite.

A month went past with nothing of significance. Matsukawa still yowled for company every night, Oikawa still cried if his ‘dad’ didn’t come to visit, the girls vied for the attention of the bristle brush, and Kyoutani was closer and closer to delivery date. The two servals, Yahaba and Watari, had quite happily settled in. Using nothing more than a piece of wood with a rough surface – imitating a mother cats tongue – Iwaizumi had tamed them to the stage where they could be picked up. Watari preferred to sit in laps or sunbathe near the pond, never too far from the ground. On the other hand, Yahaba took to the rock platforms like a fish to water, and when recieveing attention, was very happy to claim shoulders. 

They’d had all their shots done, they’d learnt to eat solids, and Iwaizumi had managed to file down their claws to the point where they could run freely about the enclosure without it hurting. Hanamaki often came to visit with Iwaizumi, making his soft spot for the almost-domestic cats well known. He was also in the progress of tracking down who had neglected and abused these two lovely creatures, with the help of an upcoming journalist for the same company, Yamaguchi. 

Recently, the two had started working together to make full articles for submission, instead of separate writings and photos. Not only were they more likely to get published, but it was mutually beneficial for highlighting the key points of each other’s work. This meant Yamaguchi was on site a lot, and when Hanamaki or Iwaizumi weren’t available, he spent time with Tsukishima. Mostly, it was learning about the big cats or interviewing the part timer on his role in conservation, but they’d started to get into more casually discussion. Henceforth, the sanctuary owners were determined to set them up on a date.

“What if we lure them both to Kyoutani’s enclosure with news of his kittens, and then we can-”

“I’m not lying about Kyoutani’s state of pregnancy just to set up the children.” Hanamaki laughs, loud and unabashed, prompting Iwaizumi to smile with crinkles at the edge of his eyes. He loved Hanamaki’s laugh. It was beautiful, in all the ways it was not, and such a confident laugh that he was just _so_ proud of Hanamaki, for giving him happiness and making him soft.

“The _children_? Are you starting to adopt humans too, Hajime~?” 

“Oh, of course. Perhaps I have just become greedy.” He leans back against Hanamaki’s chest with a small smile, gaining a small upside-down kiss on his nose before he huffs with amusement and goes back to what he was doing before.

Which happens to be; cleaning out the girls’ enclosure. Yui and Kiyoko are shut away indoors – something they’re not happy about, he can hear Kiyoko grumbling/hissing – as he rakes away the hay bales they decimated this morning at playtime, and digs up buried bones before refilling in the holes. Hanamaki helps by using a doggy bag, of all things, to pick up larger samples of poo. He makes to tie it up securely before placing it in a small tray at the side. These faecal samples will be used to check the snow leopards health. He makes sure to write the names on the two most recent poos, which they waited to watch the leopards do before chasing them inside.

If anything isn’t perfectly healthy, it’ll show in faecal or urine samples. Hanamaki will collect the urine samples later, once the ladies have been allowed outside and calmed down again. Iwaizumi sighs and treks over to another plot of disturbed land, digging up the remains of lunch.

“For god’s sake, I wish Yui wasn’t so fussy about what parts of the meat she eats.”

“What’ve you found this time?”

“A head, with the snout still attached to the skull!” Hanamaki snorts and muffles another laugh with his hand, not looking as Iwaizumi chucks the skull into a blue bin bag marked for instant disposal. They worked on, Iwaizumi occasionally taking a break to go and coo through the metal gate, trying to calm down Kiyoko as she started to growl and launch at the closed gate with her claws. Neither of them knew why, but she had an absolute hatred of being trapped in a small, dark place. Iwaizumi reckoned it had something to do with her past.

The girls had been saved from a zoo that closed down, but before that, they had been sister pets to a ‘collector’ that was not well known for his care of animals. As was the case, Kiyoko was agitated by dark small, indoor spaces, and Yui was terrified of thunder and lightning. For the time they had been here at the sanctuary, Iwaizumi’s magic had worked to calm them with his voice, but only to a certain degree. 

“Wow, she is not happy.”

“Mhm. Luckily, we’re almost done. I don’t think it’s safe for us to stay in here whilst Kiyoko is this agitated.”

“I never thought I’d hear the day Iwaizumi Hajime would say that!” Iwaizumi’s lips twitched up as he held the enclosure door open for Hanamaki, smacking his behind teasingly on the way out. Hanamaki only stuck his tongue out over his shoulder in response and passed over the tray of poo samples so he could pull the rope that opened the hatches. 

Instantly, Kiyoko came bounding out, hackles raised, fur on end, and face contorted into a snarl. She skidded to a stop in the centre of the enclosure and paced around with hisses and low growls before her hackles went flat and she jumped up onto the raised platform. Although she was still agitated – betrayed by the flicking of her tail – she did little more than turn away from her sister when Yui strolled casually up next to her and curled besides her.

“That’s my girls~.” Hanamaki snickered under his breath at the pride that leaked into Iwaizumi’s voice. He probably would have had his hands on his hips if he wasn’t holding onto the faecal tray. Together, they head back to the house, which has a small laboratory built into their kitchen.

“Want me to get the urine samples whilst you test those?”

“Oh, yes please. That would be an amazing help.” Iwaizumi catches movement out his peripheral vision and look over to see Tsukishima crouched down next to the lynx enclosure, Kyoutani on the other side of the fence obviously chewing on something.

“Tsukishima, stop giving him those chicken drumsticks!” Wordlessly, the teenager looks up at him with a blank stare and hold up an empty packet of supermarket chicken _thighs_. Iwaizumi firmly closes his mouth, irritated at being outthought. Hanamaki doesn’t hide his amusement, releasing an ugly guffaw. They divert from the path to come over to Tsukishima’s side as he scratches Kyoutani’s fluffy cheeks through the wire fencing. Hanamaki shudders involuntarily. The lynx might tolerate him, but there’s still a no-touching rule in place.

“You’ve got to stop spoiling him. He’s going to get fat.”

“He has cravings. And he’s already fat.”

“He’s pregnant, not fat.” Hanamaki suddenly perks up, waving a hand to draw attention to himself.

“Question! When are we going to stop referring to Kyoutani as ‘he’? Because, y’know... ‘He’ is going to have kittens soon.” Iwaizumi and Tsukishima look at each other with bewilderment, and then back to Hanamaki with matching face of innocent confusion.

“But, he- Well... He _is_ a guy.”

“Yeah, you’ve seen the way he behaves. Territorial and defensive. He even pees like a male.” 

“So, you’re saying we have a Trans lynx?”

“Yes.”

“Pretty much. You’re... Okay with that, aren’t you, Taka...?” Hanamaki nods, small smile on his face.

“I’m just glad we came to a conclusion. Sorry for bringing it up, I just wanted to check.”

“I’m sure he’d appreciate your checking, instead of assuming.” Kyoutani purrs through the fence, brushing up against it to demand more scratches, and Tsukishima complies. It’s a strange coupling, Hanamaki thinks. An active and aggressive lynx, turning into a sap around the quiet, unmotivated teenager who will only cooperate with a few people, and likes even less. Luckily, the two sanctuary owners are within the ‘liked’ grouping.

“I’m worried though.”

“Hm?” The two turn to Iwaizumi, who has an awful look of unfamiliar unease on his face. He nibbles at his bottom lip, eyes fixated on Kyoutani’s round belly.

“He’s definitely male, but... Male lynx don’t participate in raising the kittens. I’m not sure if instinct or biology would win over... He could – theoretically – abandon the kittens as soon as they’re born.”

“He won’t.”

“Tsukishima...?”

“I know him better than even you. He won’t abandon them.” As much as Iwaizumi wants to bristle about the gloating comment, he can’t argue. Tsukishima speaks the truth. He spends all his days with only Kyoutani, whereas Iwaizumi’s attention is divided between all the cats, and he’s known the others – sans the new servals – since much _much_ younger. There’s little more he can do than believe in Tsukishima’s words. So with a wordless nod, Iwaizumi heads into the kitchen laboratory, Hanamaki on his heels. 

“Hey, Hajime...” He shrugs the gentle hand off his shoulder.

“I’m not in the mood, Taka.” For a moment, Hanamaki feels a little hurt. But he knows that Iwaizumi has instances where he drops low, or his mood rapidly fluctuates. There’s nothing he can do, so he nods and quietly presses a reassuring kiss to Iwaizumi’s forehead before going over to the kitchen section of the shared room. It’s quiet as Iwaizumi gathers his equipment, an array of test tubes, distilled water squeezers, salt, a sieve, and a centrifuge. Hanamaki finds a large jug which he fills with tap water, then grabs some _marmite_.

To anyone looking on, it would certainly be confusing. He stirs two huge spoonfuls of marmite into the water. The thing is; this is the trick behind getting the urine samples. He doesn’t know what it is about marmite specifically, but it makes the cats wee like crazy. Multiple times in the space of minutes. It’s a tactic that is perfect for obtaining samples. He holds the jug up to the light, checking the colour against his memory, and nodding. Voice soft, he turns back to where Iwaizumi is removing tubes from the centrifuge. He takes the two empty test tubes Iwaizumi has left out for him.

“I’m just going to get those urine samples. I’ll have my phone on me if you need me.” Iwaizumi nods, not looking up from his work, and Hanamaki strolls out the kitchen, out the house, and back to the enclosure of the female snow leopards. On the way, he grabs his trusty broom and some plastic blue tarp. Strangely, the big cats love to pee on the surface. It must be something to do with the sound it makes, Hanamaki thinks. 

“Yui! Kiyoko! Come and get it~!” He lays the tarp down near two empty water bowls, and fills it up with the marmite solution. Quickly, he jumps aside and holds his broom at the ready as the sisters come padding over to the bowls and instantly start drinking. Yui finishes first, coming over to him for some petting, so he watches her carefully as he ruffles his fingers through her fur. She purrs, rubbing her head against a nearby tree trunk.

“Good girl, good girl...” He’s a tad nervous, but that’s nothing compared to the first time Iwaizumi brought him _in_ to an enclosure. It had been Matsukawa’s, since the caracal was the smallest of the cats at the sanctuary at the time. He’d been about the same size as he was today, but not as enthusiastic about Hanamaki. Once Hanamaki had become comfortable with the Caracal, he was introduced to Oikawa, and then Yui and Kiyoko.

Suddenly, the bonding moment was interrupted by the distinct sound of tiddling on the plastic tarp. Hanamaki looks up in time to see Kiyoko strolling off back to her sunny spot, leaving behind a puddle on the tarp. If he left it there, she would probably come back many times. Yui spotted it and padded over, but Hanamaki was quick to nudge her out the way with his knee as he pulled on elbow-length gloves and took a test tube out his pocket.

“Ah-ah. You’ll have to cross your legs for a minute.” He scoops up some of the urine into the test tube and corks it, flipping the tarp over and then patting it as he looks at Yui with a grin. She stares back. He pats the tarp again. She stares.

“... You’re a real pain in the neck. Hajime calls you sweetheart, but I see through your lies.” Yui gives a gently mewls and butts her head against his hip, before she squats over the tarp. She might be a leopard, but she’s still a lady, so Hanamaki politely looks away.

“Thank you, pain-in-the-neck.” He uses the other test tube to collect Yui’s sample, writing her name on in whiteboard marker. He pats her head affectionately before walking backwards out the enclosure, keeping his eyes on the leopards at all times. He returns to the kitchen with two test tubes full of wee. Iwaizumi is still hunched over the table, writing down his findings.

“Hey, how’s it going?”

“Kiyoko’s clear. Just checking Yui.”

“I have the urine samples for you.”

“Excellent, thank you. Just put them in the rack, I’ll check them in a minute.” Hanamaki follows his instructing before removing the rubber gloves to put in a bowl full of warm water that’s doused with disinfectant, rinsing his hands under the running tap. Iwaizumi has his own gloves which he’ll dispose of separately, since they’ve probably got faecal smears on them. After that, he’ll take a shower whilst Hanamaki watches TV, and they’ll end up cuddling on the sofa. It’s their monthly routine, something they do after every health check-up. The same will happen tomorrow after checking Oikawa and Matsukawa, then the day after with Kyoutani. And, Hanamaki is pretty sure, there might be an extra day added since Yahaba and Watari have joined them.

“Alright, I’m done. The girls are clear.”

“Yay~. You going for a shower?” Iwaizumi nods, a quiet humm on his lips as a frown tugs at them. Hanamaki’s brow furrows and he watches Iwaizumi amble slowly around the kitchen, like his mind is far off and he’s navigated by muscle memory alone. It’s... Surprisingly common. Most people wouldn’t notice the very slight slowing down of his movements, or how his gaze catches on something before drifting slowly to one side and snagging onto something else. 

This happens on a regular basis. Usually when Iwaizumi hasn’t looked after himself properly because he’s too engaged in the big cats. The cats make him happy, Hanamaki knows, but Iwaizumi also needs time to himself, or a pampering session, to help him get through these low moments. There’s no direct cause, no direct cure... Sometimes things like these just creep in, they happen to anyone in any situation.

“Hajime.” 

“U-Uh... Huh?” It takes him a second to realise he’s being spoken to and look over to Hanamaki. There’s a glaze over his eyes that makes them look watery, like he’s about to start crying. But Hanamaki knows otherwise. He slowly helps Iwaizumi to peel the gloves off, throwing them in a specially marked bin, before holding his hand and intertwining their fingers.

“Let’s go shower, yeah?”

“... Okay...” Iwaizumi lets Hanamaki lead him to the bathroom, and gently whispers words of love and encouragement into his ear as he undresses them both, turns on the bath tab and returns, nudging Iwaizumi to sit on the plastic stool before showering down his back. He lathers up some body wash and his touch is feather-light and loving, followed by the same treatment with shampoo. Streams of suds flow past Iwaizumi’s feet under the shower spray, and as he comes back to himself, he taps his toes to pop the larger bubbles. Hanamaki isn’t blind to it, chuckling gently as he takes a handful of foam and blows it over Iwaizumi’s shoulder so it falls like snow in front of his face.

Iwaizumi smiles, cupping his hands to catch the suds like they actually were snowflakes. Hanamaki runs his hands down Iwaizumi’s arms - appreciating their form and muscles – cupping his own hands underneath Iwaizumi’s and curling them in like a rose returning to a bud. 

“You’re wonderful, Hajime. I love you.”

“T-Taka... I love you too. So, _so_ much. And... I’m sorry.”

“Sorry? What are you sorry for?”

“For constantly ‘blanking’ like this an-” Hanamaki wraps his arms around Iwaizumi from behind and squeezes tightly, pressing his cheeks against Iwaizumi’s.

“Don’t... Don’t you dare apologise for things you can’t control... You ‘blank’ because you give so much love to others that you forget to keep some for yourself.” Iwaizumi opens his mouth to respond, but Hanamaki is quicker, stealing a soft kiss and keeping their noses pressed together. It’s uncomfortable, leaning over Iwaizumi from behind like this, and there’s a shoulder blade digging into the sensitive part of his rib, but he won’t let Iwaizumi blame himself for things he can’t control.

“I’ll fill those drained holes with my love for you, Hajime. I can’t make it stop, but I’ll love you as much I can to help you through it.” Their lips softly join once more, and he can feel Iwaizumi’s lips twitching upwards as he trails his fingers up Iwaizumi’s spine, muffling a laugh with a solid kiss when he reaches the back of Iwaizumi’s ticklish neck.

“Alright, c’mon~. You wash my back now, then we can get in the bath.” Green eyes – back to their normal clear and sparkling state – blink up at him a tad confused.

“Bath? I thought we were only showering off?”

“Hmm... Well, we could stop here, but I was thinking bubble cuddles, so~...” He trails off as Iwaizumi reaches up and gently tweaks his nose.

“You’re such a sap, Taka~. But I love that about you.” Iwaizumi shrugs Hanamaki off his back and they switch around, Iwaizumi scrubbing his back and washing his hair whilst Hanamaki slouches on the stool, taking leisure in the warmth of the water sprayed over his back. His fingers unconsciously tap on his knee, matching a rhythm that Iwaizumi hums under his breath, just loud enough to be heard over the shower. The moment is broken with a surprised yelp as Iwaizumi drops a sopping wet flannel over his head.

“Bath time!”

“You could have just said that!” Iwaizumi laughs, warmer than any shower could be and gentler than a newborn. It’s the kind of laugh that makes Hanamaki feel like all is at peace with the world, like a hard casing around his heart and soul has been shattered, and his spirit doused in water to refresh it. It’s hard not to love a laugh like that. He rolls his eyes and shakes his head with amusement as he follows Iwaizumi over to the tub, turning the tap off and testing the temperature. It might be a little too cold for him, but Iwaizumi likes it about this temperature. In all honesty, Hanamaki would rather get a little chilly than burn his partner.

For a moment, he pauses. Partner. Even though they married, they’ve always used the word Partner instead of Husband. Iwaizumi must catch the perplexed twitch of Hanamaki’s nose and raising of one eyebrow in deep thought, because he tilts his own head in question.

“Hajime, why don’t we call ourselves ‘Husbands’, instead of Partners?”

“I-... Well, it’s more fitting, don’t you think?”

“Fitting?”

“You- You are the other _part_ of me. You’re my best friend, my husband, and the most important person in my life combined. Husband just... Doesn’t cover it all. It feels like something is lacking, like it’s not a big enough word to describe how important you are to me, or how much I love you.” Hanamaki’s lips wobble. His eyes water, his cheeks shake, and he can’t fight off the huge, dopey grin that takes over his face, dimples and happy-wrinkles breaking out with uncontrolled joy and so, _so_ much love. A high-pitched extended squeak that _probably_ translates into ‘I love you too’ escapes him and Iwaizumi chuckles, tugging him in for a deep kiss that connects them soul, body, and mind. 

Minutes pass, and they pull apart to get in the tub, Iwaizumi settling in first and then Hanamaki resting his back against Iwaizumi’s front, his feet propped up on the tap-end of the bath, and Iwaizumi’s chin tucked against his collarbone. Two pairs of hands rest on his stomach, gently intertwined and occasionally turning to appreciate the beauty of the pair they hold. The water is almost constantly still, only rippling with the rise and fall of their chests, and their soft stolen pecks on each other’s skin. 

Warm in the water, and warm in each other’s arms, it hard to imagine anything can go wrong.


	4. Melanistic.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kitten time!

“Oikawa! Over here you big lug! C’mon, catch it if you can!” Iwaizumi runs around the inside of the snow leopard’s enclosure with a long string tied to his waist, a huge bouquet of feathers attached to the end. It doesn’t look like anyone else is in the pen – but watching from the outside – Hanamaki knows otherwise. Oikawa slinks around a corner, using dark shadows against the white stone building as camouflage. His tails flicks rapidly from side to side and his shoulders wiggle as he prepares to pounce, paws padding at the ground in pure excitement of the hunt. Hanamaki is pretty sure that if he got close enough, he’d see Oikawa’s pupils large enough to make his eyes entirely black. As Oikawa’s butt wiggles, ready to pounce, Iwaizumi darts behind a vertical log, ensuring the big cat does not misjudge the distance and get him instead.

“Get it boy, get it!” Powerful haunches push Oikawa off the ground faster than Hanamaki can blink and the snow leopard lands perfectly on the bouquet of flowers Iwaizumi is pulling towards himself by the string. Iwaizumi laughs and tugs at it again to imitate the struggle of a prey animal, although even Oikawa knows it is only play. He flops onto his back and holds the feathers above him with large, powerful front paws, whilst kicking it with his back paws. His claws are sheathed, so Iwaizumi unties the string from his waist and creeps closer, freezing each time Oikawa’s large, innocent eyes land on him.

“Hajime...” Hanamaki’s voice carries a worried warning tone, but Iwaizumi only sends him a reassuring grin. He gets within Oikawa’s range... And then drops to his knees, throwing himself over Oikawa’s stomach and ruffling his hands through the thick, white fur. Oikawa purrs loudly, tossing the feathers away in favour of laying his large paws on Iwaizumi’s back and head, licking his hair and grooming his favourite person. His tongue is rough like sandpaper, but Iwaizumi can tolerate a little bit more than the average person.

“Oikawa! Stop that, you plummock~!” The snow leopard chuffs and rubs his cheek against Iwaizumi’s face, marking him with scent glands. Iwaizumi doesn’t have the same organisms to do this with, but he compensated by burying his face in soft plush fur just behind Oikawa’s ears. He can feel Oikawa trying to lick his ear again, but from this angle, Oikawa’s affections are deemed useless. He grumbles at this, but Oikawa is quite content to just close his eyes and rest on the shoulder of his ‘father’. The heatwave weather of April is perfect for sunbathing, although Iwaizumi is certain he would prefer the snow.

Another fact about the sunny heat cycles of April is that it elicits kitten season. And there’s one cat at the sanctuary that is ready to _burst_ from the weight of pregnancy. Hanamaki’s attention is snatched away from Iwaizumi and Oikawa when he hears the faint distressed shouts of someone approaching. He steps away from the enclosure walls to look down the pathway, eyes widening when he sees Tsukishima coming towards them, dishevelled and more panicked than Hanamaki would have thought him capable. 

“Tsukishima?!”

“H-Hanamaki!! Where’s Iwaizumi?!” He skids to a stop, panting as he hunches over with his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath. Hanamaki frowns in concern with his brows furrowing, placing a hand on Tsukishima’s back to rub it as he coughs from the sudden sprint over.

“Why? What’s happening?” He takes in a deep breath, looking up at Hanamaki through skewed glasses. 

“It’s Kyoutani! I- I think the kits are coming!” His voice projects just far enough for Iwaizumi to hear it from the centre of Oikawa’s enclosure, and he hurries over. The fencing rattles as he practically throws himself against it.

“Kyoutani? Already?” 

“I think it must be the weather, but- but something’s not right!” Iwaizumi jogs over to the exit door, gently nudging Oikawa back in with his knee as the big cat tries to follow. Oikawa whines and lowly rumbles in disappointment as the gate is closed again. He used to roam the sanctuary freely at Iwaizumi’s heels until he reached 3 months, but after that, it was deemed too dangerous to let him walk around without any barriers. It took another month to get him used to being in a closed space, but by the time he was as tall as Iwaizumi’s hip, Oikawa was adapted to being in an enclosure. IT didn’t mean he was happy about it though. As Iwaizumi jogged round to Hanamaki and Tsukishima, Oikawa followed from the inside of his enclosure with growls and huffs, wanting parental affection from the sanctuary owner.

“Sorry, Oikawa! I’ll come back later!” The three break into a sprint towards the lynx enclosure, and the closer they get, the more they can clearly hear the grunting and moaning that clearly indicated Kyoutani was in pain. Iwaizumi uses his superior athleticism to burst into a run, only slowing when he comes into view of the lynx enclosure. He doesn’t want to spook Kyoutani and put him in even more danger than he already.

The lynx paces up and down the enclosure with a permanently angry face, even lunging towards Iwaizumi and hissing through the wire. Kyoutani’s ears are pressed flatly to his head and he spits a little before stalking off again. He’s in a lot of pain, a lot of stress, and it’s showing in the way he’s aggressive to anyone nearby. He scratches long claws on a tree to mark it before flopping down in the shade panting. His sides are heaving, and Iwaizumi moves into better position to get a good look at Kyoutani’s backside.

“That’s... Not a good sign, buddy...” There’s a thin trail of blood under his tail, mixing in with a clear liquid that Iwaizumi knows is amniotic fluid. The fur leading down Kyoutani’s backside is flat and soaked, but it’s also been messed up from where he’s been licking it. This tells Iwaizumi that the birth is too close to move him into a sterile and safe enclosure. It’s too late to do anything, except helplessly watch. Fingers brush across Iwaizumi’s shoulder sympathetically before Hanamaki kisses the top of his head and whispers in his ear.

“I’ll go call the vet.”

“Y-Yeah. Thanks.” Tsukishima sinks down to the ground next to Iwaizumi as Kyoutani pushes himself up and starts to pace again. His legs are crossed and his hands lie uselessly in his lap. His head is downcast and his glasses are angled to hide his eyes. That doesn’t mean Iwaizumi can’t see the single tear making its way down Tsukishima’s face. It’s a very likely possibility – with something seriously wrong – that the kittens could not survive, and even Kyoutani is at risk. Iwaizumi slings an arm over Tsukishima’s shoulder comfortingly.

“Hey. You said yourself that you know him better than anyone. Do you really think this could bring him down?” With a soft sniffle that he tries to hide, Tsukishima shakes his head. It’s a strange thing – to see him so emotional – but this is a trying time and Kyoutani means as much to Tsukishima as Oikawa does to Iwaizumi. The corners of Iwaizumi’s lips quirk upwards.

“Exactly. Kyoutani will be fine.”

“And the kittens...?” The slight smile drops. 

“I don’t know. We can only hope.” Kyoutani growls and hisses as he flops down in another patch of shade, panting heavily as his sides heave. It’s time. 

“... Tsukishima, have you cleaned out Kyoutani’s indoor area today?”

“Yes?”

“How long ago?”

“I- I noticed he was struggling when I came out...” Iwaizumi pushes himself back to his feet, speed-walking over to the enclosure. He finds the latch for the hatch and unties the rope, grounding his heels into the dirt to keep the heavy gate aloft.

“Try and shoo him inside! If anything, it’s cleaner and safer than out here!” Tsukishima nods and stands up, going over to the enclosure door. Arming himself with the broom, he steps inside. Carefully and slowly, he approaches. Kyoutani notices him at the last possible moment and painfully lunges to all four paws, yowling in aggression. He doesn’t recognise Tsukishima through the instinctual desire to protect himself and his unborn kittens. 

“Come on, Kyoutani... It’s okay; we’re just trying to help.” He nudges Kyoutani with the broom, an action that receives a swipe in return, sharp claws chipping a little bit off wood off the handle. This is dangerous, but Tsukishima doesn’t give up, nudging the bristles against Kyoutani’s front again. It works to push him back, step by step, until he’s up against the wall with only the door to inside for him to escape through. By some miracle, that’s exactly where he goes next. Iwaizumi eases the metal hatch down with a grunt.

“Good! Now, it’s all up to him.” He rubs his hands on his trousers, the rope pattern marked into his hands with in a red friction burn. Waiting for Tsukishima to re-emerge from the enclosure, Iwaizumi opens the door to the indoor viewing area. It’s not very large, but it’s enough for three people comfortably to crouch in front of the bars separating them from the big cat’s bedroom. They move inside and shut the door behind them to prevent flies and whatnot from entering. Hanamaki will work out where they are.

As their eyes adjust to the darkness, it becomes apparent that Kyoutani is evermore close to giving birth, rolling on his back with low grunts and yowls, pushing off the stone walls with his hind legs. He manages to work himself into a corner, angled so that all four paws are pushing in different directions, like he needs assistance in stretching. The curve of his stomach is highly visible, and it shudders as a contraction rips through him.

“Not long now.” After about ten minutes of waiting... Waiting... And waiting... Iwaizumi and Tsukishima are in matching states of worry and distress; sweat beading down their forwards and knuckles white from holding them together in an effort to stop fidgeting. There’s a gentle knock on the door before Hanamaki slips in.

“Hey, Moniwa’s on his way... Sorry, it took a long time to get through to the vets.” 

“That’s okay, he- he hasn’t had one yet.” Hanamaki winces as he crouches down behind them.

“That’s not good.”

“I- I know. I’m so worried, Taka...” Tsukishima doesn’t say anything, but he slumps a little in loss of hope. The more he sees the lynx struggling and in pain, the less confidence he has in his own words that Kyoutani will be okay. Iwaizumi, too, seems to believe less and less in the words. But that’s not because he doubts Tsukishima. It’s because he’s seen this before.

Oikawa’s mother, the first snow leopard he had, who died during labour with only one cub to show for it. That one cub was his world, but he had wished then that she hadn’t passed, and he wished now that Kyoutani wouldn’t succumb to the same symptoms, whatever it turned out to be.

“How long until Moniwa gets here?” Hanamaki falters, biting his lip. It’s only Iwaizumi looks at him with wide, begging eyes that he manages to answer.

“An hour.”

“An _hour_!?” Although it is Iwaizumi who has the outburst, Tsukishima promptly pushes himself up and swiftly exits, making sure the door doesn’t slam behind him and scare Kyoutani. Wiping ferociously at his eyes with his glasses pushed up on his forehead, he only makes it across to the caracal enclosure before he drops to his knees with choked sobs. Matsukawa comes over to the fencing and tilts his head in confusion at the strange noises the human makes, before happily trotting off like the type of cat he is.

“Tsukki...?” Tsukishima looks up to see the National Geographic journalist, Yamaguchi, standing a few meters off with a report in hand and concern etched into his freckled features. He looks away, not wanting Yamaguchi to see his upset, but the boy is stubborn and comes over to his side anyways. He puts the report down, a healthy stack of papers that Tsukishima sees is handwritten, and about the Serval. A warm and gentle hand rubs circles on his back.

“What’s wrong, Tsukki?” He takes in a deep breath, not ready to explain, but his head turns towards the lynx enclosure and that’s somehow all he needs to do for Yamaguchi to understand. The journalist sits down next to him, never removing his hand but also keeping his eyes on Matsukawa, who is having a great time leaping from log to log in his enclosure. The silent reassurance – just the presence of someone nearby – helps Tsukishima to get himself back under control.

“Thanks, Yamaguchi.” A bright beaming smile is sent his way before Yamaguchi softens back into gentleness. Sometimes, Tsukishima thinks he might be an actual angel.

“You want to talk about it?”

“... Kyoutani’s kittens are coming, but... Something’s wrong. I’ve never seen Iwaizumi so tense before, and- and he instantly ordered Hanamaki to go and call the vet.”

“He didn’t try a holistic approach first?”

“No. And considering this sanctuary is 100% holistic _unless_ a cat’s life is in danger...” His voice catches in his throat, but Yamaguchi is there to ease it away again, to make it slightly easier to breath.

“It’s okay, Tsukki. I haven’t been here long, but I know Kyoutani is very strong! Iwaizumi-san knows what he’s doing too, so I’m sure everything is going to work itself out! Calling the vet is probably just... Precaution.” Tsukishima listens carefully to the words, processes them, and then he smiles. He smiles at Yamaguchi and it’s so _beautiful_ that Yamaguchi’s heart skips a beat and he forgets to breathe as he gradually turns red as a strawberry.

“Thank you, Yamaguchi~.”

“Y-You’re welcome!” He squeaks out, clearing his throat afterwards. After a pause, he looks back to Matsukawa, who has taken to scratching at the tallest log in his space, marking his territory once more. 

“Sooo... Did you want to go back and make sure he’s okay?”

“I’m not sure. What if he doesn’t make it...?”

“If we didn’t do things because they _might_ go wrong, would anything ever get done?” Tsukishima abruptly whips his head back to Yamaguchi with wide eyes of disbelief. With a small ‘eep!’, the journalist leans away from him like he’s about to get hit. 

“U- Um...? Tsukki?”

“I never knew you were so cool...”

“I- What?!”

“Thanks for the advice, Yamaguchi. I’ll update you on how everything goes.” With no warning, Yamaguchi finds lips planted quickly against his cheek before Tsukishima jumps up and is running back towards the lynx enclosure. Yamaguchi holds a palm over his blushing cheek, stammering out to the caracal that looks at him in boredom and disinterest.

“T-Tsukki kissed m-me...” Whilst Yamaguchi was having a gay crisis, Tsukishima was over a panic of his own, reassured and confident once more. Kyoutani was strong. Iwaizumi knew what he was doing. The kittens would arrive just fine. The vet was just a precaution. Each time one of these thoughts echoed in his head, he believed them wholly and found no doubts. He pushes the door open and finds Iwaizumi sitting with his head in his hands, Hanamaki hugging him from behind and whispering soft words of comfort.

There’s a large kitten by Kyoutani’s side, almost the same sandy shade he is, and Kyoutani licks at it almost frantically. But the kitten doesn’t move. Sometimes, nature isn’t as kind or forgiving as anyone would expect. The newborn is obviously dead. Whether it died in womb, or during birth, Moniwa will be able to tell them later. Tsukishima takes a deep breath, trying to calm himself. It’s distressing, yes, but it’s not the end of the world. Lynx usually have litters 1-4 large, and Tsukishima can tell by the size of Kyoutani’s stomach that there’s _definitely_ more than 1. He’ll mourn the lost kitten later, when he knows the other one or more is/are safe.

_They have to be safe, they just **have** to be._

Kyoutani raises his head from the dead kitten with a sad whine, as if he knows. His dark brown eyes fixate on Tsukishima and he chuffs in a distressed greeting, that Tsukishima promptly returns as he leans right up against the bars. If anything good came from this, it’s the fact that Kyoutani seems to have come round from being over aggressive due to pain. It’s a good indication the next kitten or kittens will be much easier births, and hopefully alive.

They don’t have to wait long. Only ten minutes later, Kyoutani is pushing off the walls again and rolling on his back with low, subdued growls. Iwaizumi is biting his knuckles with beads of sweat on his forehead, worried for the safety of this kitten too. As the kitten starts to make an entrance, Hanamaki winces and looks away. It’s not exactly a clean thing to see. There’s blood, fluid, and the general disgustingness of birth. For a second, all is tense.

_“Mew!”_ That tiny little sound is a beacon of hope, and a huge sigh of relief for all three men waiting and watching. Instinctively, Kyoutani grooms the kitten, a dark golden kitten with black streaks of fur that suggest it’s going to be a lot darker as he ages. 

“Wow... Looks like it’s got abundism.” 

“Abundism?”

“Mhm. Also called Pseudo-melanism. It’s a pigmentation variation that makes their markings larger and darker. You can see Kiyoko has it as well, but I think that might be a genetic inheritance.” Tsukishima clicks his tongue against the roof of his mouth.

“We don’t know about this kitten’s other parent. Kyoutani came to us pregnant. For all we know, it could be a cross-breed, or the parent could be melanistic.” Nodding his head, Iwaizumi shuffles closer to the bars to get a look at the kitten. It’s not as large as the stillborn, but still a very big kitten. The most astonishing thing, apart from his large black markings, is that it’s base coat colour is almost golden.

“I want to name it something with ‘Kin’ in it~. What do you think Tsukishima?” The part-time worker takes a couple of seconds to think, eyes closed, before he opens them with a placid smile.

“Kindaichi.”

“Golden number one, huh? Well, it definitely fits.”

“That and the fact Daichi-san was on the team that brought Kyoutani in.” Tsukishima’s lips quirk upwards as Iwaizumi barks out a short laugh that actually makes Kyoutani jump, Hanamaki muffling his own snorts in Iwaizumi’s collarbone, nuzzling him from behind. They’re so nauseatingly cute, Tsukishima feels like he needs a break _already_. His moment of fake gagging is broken when Kyoutani grunts again, getting to his feet and nudging the new kitten – Kindaichi – into a safe little corner opposite the stillborn. Then, the Iberian lynx starts to pace again. Iwaizumi gives a small grunt of surprise.

“Another one? I was sure he’d only have two, considering their size.” Kyoutani paces, and Tsukishima waits, Iwaizumi and Hanamaki checking their watches to see how long the birth is taking as well as monitoring how long until Moniwa arrives. Every now and then, the deaf and blind newborn mews and Kyoutani is instantly over in the corner, giving the kit gentle licks and encouraging purrs. He’s a natural father, that’s for sure.

“Ah, here it comes.” Kyoutani has sat down again, much more relaxed this time. His sides heave, and then an entirely black lynx enters the world. Hanamaki breathes out in awe, and Iwaizumi practically shakes with excitement. He’d very much like to pet the kittens and get them used to handling and his scent, but he knows that for the first few days, Kyoutani won’t allow anyone but himself near the bundles of fluff. Tsukishima looks over at Iwaizumi expectantly, waiting for him to name the kitten. It only seems fair, since he owns the sanctuary and has so much love to give to all his cats. Love, which is causing him to press himself against the bars with soft cooing and chuffing noises, ruffling Kyoutani’s fur as a reward for going through such a difficult time.

“Hajime, Tsukishima is waiting for you~.” Hanamaki shakes Iwaizumi’s shoulder with a soft chuckle, pulling his partner back from the bars. Kyoutani gives a whine at the lack of attention, but quickly turns to his kittens when the all-black one quietly mews, the sound almost drowned out by Kindaichi’s much louder, demanding yowl. Iwaizumi giggles – of all things, _giggles_ like a pre-teen – and rests his chin in his hands as he watches Kyoutani switch between the two newborns, not sure how to lavish attention on both of them at the same time. They’re hungry, but it’s going to take the new father a couple of tries to figure out that they want milk.

“Kunimi~. The black one will be Kunimi.”

By the time Moniwa arrived, Kyoutani had figured out what the kittens wanted and laid down on his side to allow them to suckle. Deaf and blind for the first couple of days, all the kittens had to go by was scent, and Iwaizumi was doing his best to let them pick up his scent by attempting to stroke them with a long piece of rough wood. Kyoutani, on the other hand, was having none of it. His hackles raised, he growled and hissed and swatted the wood away with large paws. Luckily, this proved enough a distraction for Tsukishima to use a net to get the stillborn out. He held it tenderly in his arms, brow furrowed with bereavement and lips turned downwards in a softer frown than usual. A hand clapped his back. Hanamaki gave him a sympathetic smile and nodded towards the kitten.

“Why don’t you go and find a good burial spot? We’ll dig it out once you give us the word.”

“... M’kay...” The sandy kitten in arms, Tsukishima exited the indoor shack to head over to where he knew some White Roses grew. Considering they meant innocence, it was perfect for a kitten that hadn’t lived before it was born. Hanamaki sighed, closing the door again sadly. He turned back to Iwaizumi, who was avidly talking about Kyoutani’s health with Moniwa, as well as discussing what had gone wrong and how to sufficiently provide for the new kittens. For as much research as he had done, nothing beat the advice from a veteran in the field, whom had assisted many successful labours and kitten calls. 

“- all in all, Kyoutani will be perfectly healthy. If you see him limping over the next few days, it may be a muscular injury or a tear in the birth canal. Don’t worry; it’s to be expected with the size of the kittens. They’re very large, especially for a first litter!”

“Right, is there anything else I can do for him?”

“I know you have a holistic approach, but I would recommend iron supplements in his water to replace the lost blood.” Iwaizumi nodded.

“That’s fine. We’re only holistic if it doesn’t endanger the cat’s life. This is important for getting him back to full health, so I’ll gladly do that.”

“You’re a good man, Iwaizumi.” The fact that Iwaizumi looked _genuinely_ baffled by the praise had Hanamaki cover a snicker up by putting his hand across his mouth. He glanced back at the kittens and saw Kindaichi was still greedily drinking, his large paws padding against Kyoutani’s stomach as he fed, whilst Kunimi had gotten a little lost and ended up under Kyoutani’s chin. The melanistic kitten didn’t seem too bothered though, lying there happily purring and flicking his ears as Kyoutani groomed him with a rough tongue, only stopping to swat Iwaizumi’s stick away again.

It hadn’t been perfect, but this was good. Kindaichi pulled off the teat and gave a tiny burp, making Hanamaki burst into laughter, followed by Iwaizumi and Moniwa.

Yeah, this was good.


	5. Kit-chen.

This... Wasn’t good.

“Oikawa!” Iwaizumi stood in front of the snow leopard enclosure with one hand knotting in his hair, and the other perched on his hip with nails digging in. The enclosure was empty. There was no sign of the big cat, but definitely a trail of where he disappeared to. The door had been mauled open, and Oikawa’s toys – fallen from the basket they were usually kept in – gave away his direction. 

Somewhere in his house, Iwaizumi had a snow leopard to find. Hopefully, before Hanamaki did. On Saturdays, Hanamaki liked to sleep in until 6am. Checking his watch, Iwaizumi noted that gave him an hour and fifteen minutes to track down his son. It sounded easy put like that, but it wasn’t. Oh, it never was. Oikawa may have been a white and spotty big cat in Iwaizumi’s humble home, but that didn’t mean he was willing to be found. Many times, it had taken a full hour to track the cat down.

“God dammit, Oikawa... I swear, if you’ve broken the fridge again...” He trekked back to the house with a stomp in his step, only pausing when he went to open the door. He exhaled heavily, relaxing his muscles and easing out any tension. If he were to continue stomping around, he could wake Hanamaki. With thoughts of peace and quiet in his mind, Iwaizumi opens the door and steps in. He almost breaks his vigil of silence before it even begins.

The kitchen is trashed. There’s pots and pans all over the floor, food spread across ever surface, distinctive paw prints on the counter and one on the ceiling – worst of all, just as Iwaizumi suspected – The fridge lies on its side, door open and insides empty, the plug sparking from where the wires have been ripped away at the wrong angle. Iwaizumi puts his head in his hands and _seethes_ with rage. That’s the third fridge this year! A noise from upstairs has him still in fright.

No. No _no **no**_. Please, _god_ no. 

He runs as fast and silently as he can up the stairs, skidding to a halt in the doorway of his bedroom. He stills; eyes wide and heart thudding painfully slow in his chest. Hanamaki lies in bed, curled up in the glow of the rising sun coming through the window, painted gold and rose as he breathes peacefully, deep in sleep. 

He’s completely unaware of the snow leopard lying next to him on the bed. Oikawa looks up as Iwaizumi steps in, perking up like he’s about to leap from his place next to Hanamaki and throw himself at Iwaizumi. The only problem with that is the placement of his paws. The second he moves, Oikawa will step on Hanamaki. Iwaizumi instantly sinks into his hunches, flailing his arms around to stop Oikawa from moving. The big cat stops moving, tilts his head to one side, and then relaxes. Just as Iwaizumi breathes out in relief, Oikawa dips his head down and looks up again with _tonight’s whole chicken_ in his mouth.

“Oikawa!!” Clapping his hands over his mouth, Iwaizumi realises his mistake. Hanamaki is still asleep. Or rather, Hanamaki _was_ still asleep. As of this moment, Hanamaki is sitting up in bed, nose to nose with Oikawa and not yet processing that he was staring into the face of death. Hanamaki sleepily mumbles, and reaches up to run his fingers through Oikawa’s fur.

“Hajime, you really need to shave...” With nothing more than that sleepy mumble, he flops back down. Iwaizumi snickers, watching Oikawa looks between the two with a low confused grunt. Like any other cat though, he has much more pressing matters to return to. Food. He picks up the whole chicken in his large jaws and pads his paws on the mattress, pushing himself to his feet. He’s going to jump, Iwaizumi realises, and since Hanamaki has moved, the only thing is Oikawa’s way is-

“ _Oh_.” Oikawa’s oversized front paws slam into Iwaizumi’s shoulders and push him backwards, landing on the floor with the air forced out of his lungs, wheezing when Oikawa jumps off again. As if to add insult to injury, the black tip of Oikawa’s tail delicately taps his nose. Iwaizumi growls under his breath and blows some shedded fur off his face. Pushing himself up, he wheezes once more as breath fills his sore chest. Oikawa wasn’t exactly light. 49 kilograms of snow leopard is not exactly the way Iwaizumi wants to leave this world, despite how much he loves the felines in his back garden. He sighs and follows distinctive marks on the carpet. Oikawa must have stepped in some kind of spread, since he’s leaving parts of paw prints around the house. 

“Oikawa, c’mere boy...” A quiet mewl from the kitchen answers his whisper and Iwaizumi rolls up his sleeves read to wrestle something out of Oikawa’s jaws, if he has to. Last time, the Walking Troublemaker™ had chosen to gnaw on a coffee machine. Not good for his gums, and not good for Hanamaki’s coffee dependency. As he enters the kitchen, he finds Oikawa is still much more interested in his stolen chicken than any of the kitchenware. With an aggravated sigh, Iwaizumi grabs the ten meter lead he keeps in the cupboard under the sink. 

It’s what he used to walk Oikawa with, back when he was a tiny cub with a tendency to wander off. It’s what he currently uses to train Watari and Yahaba, to get their muscles back into shape after months of neglect. And it’s most likely what he’s _going_ to use with Kyoutani’s cubs when they start walking. Right now though, it serves another purpose. Iwaizumi ties it up in to a lasso, and carefully throws it to land around the half eaten chicken. Ever so gently, he pulls it tight, and experimentally tugs. The chicken moves with the lead.

“Oh thank god. Alright... Here we go. No backing out now, Hajime...” The nervous pep-talk is all he gives himself before he loops his end of the lead around his wrist, and _fucking bolts for it_. The lead gives him enough time to pick up speed and gain a lengthy advantage, although that will be completely useless if Oikawa decides to leap and tackle his prey, which is dragged along behind Iwaizumi. The best thing about this lasso technique is that Oikawa doesn’t _see_ the chicken being pulled away until it’s gone, and the sudden disappearance stuns him for a moment in which Iwaizumi is still running. The second Oikawa realises the chicken is no longer between his paws, he yeowls and gives chase. 

There’s no debating which one of them is faster. Oikawa is a fricking _Snow leopard_ , for crying out loud. Iwaizumi is 100% certain he will be caught. But at the very least, he can get Oikawa away from the house and attempt to lure him back into his enclosure. He’s only just turned the second corner when he hears Oikawa’s large paws thud into the ground as he pushes himself off the earth with his haunches, leaping into the air and diving for the chicken, which bobs along after Iwaizumi. The dirt covered meal in Oikawa’s paws, the lead tenses and pulls Iwaizumi backwards onto his rear end.

“Ow, ow, ow...”

“... Iwaizumi-san, I sometimes question your motives.” Dusting himself off, Iwaizumi looks away from Tsukishima to try and hide his blush of embarrassment, though the tips of his ears give it away. Tsukishima muffles a smug laugh as he watches from his little stool just next to Kyoutani’s enclosure. The Iberian lynx raises a paw and claws at the fence, demanding another piece of food. This time, Tsukishima is giving him scraps of deer, left over from a road kill the night before. Oikawa sniffs the air intently and Iwaizumi freezes.

“Tsukishima... Put the deer down, and back away slowly...” Blinking in confusion, Tsukishima does as instructed. It’s only when he notices Oikawa stalking towards the abandoned strips of deer meat that he realises why Iwaizumi was being so serious. Kyoutani’s hackles rise as he glares at the snow leopard, ears flat against his head, claws digging into the dirt, and a low, ferocious growl rumbling in his throat. He has kittens to protect, and he’s never been the friendliest anyways. Whether Oikawa doesn’t notice him – Which would label him the stupidest big cat ever, Iwaizumi decides – or he’s more focused on the available breakfast. Most likely it’s the latter. 

He pads up to the enclosure fence, almost pressed against the wire as he crouches down and starts eating. Kyoutani is going absolute _nuts_ , yowling, screeching, spitting and launching himself at the wiring with all his focus on attacking the ‘intruder’. Despite the fact that Oikawa isn’t inside his enclosure, it’s still trespassing on what Kyoutani considers his own territory. Oikawa finishes the meat quickly, licking his lips as he lifts his head and stares at Kyoutani, unafraid of the intimidating display. He stares, and does nothing else, but something amazing happens that wows both Tsukishima and Iwaizumi. 

Kyoutani backs down. He shuffles until his belly lies on the floor, his chin atop his front paws, and short fluffy tail curled beneath him. Tsukishima stares in disbelief, and Iwaizumi breathes out shakily in relief. He comes over to Oikawa’s side, and shoves the big cat towards his own enclosure. 

“Come on, you big lug! Get a move on!” Iwaizumi shoves Oikawa again to try and get him walking, before Tsukishima whispers with horror in his voice.

“Iwaizumi-san... Iwaizumi-san, please, do _not_ move.”

“Hm?” Curiously, he looks over at where Oikawa’s eyes are fixed and swears under his breath. What a time for one of the kittens to come outside for the first time! Kyoutani whips his head between the two, standing defensively between his kitten and Oikawa. For a moment, Iwaizumi thinks it might be both kittens coming out, but then Kunimi’s head ducks back into the inside area, and only Kindaichi tumbles out into a patch of grass. He sits up with a dazed look and gives a small squeak of confusion, clumsily getting back on all four paws. They’re too big for him and he trips again, but in an instance, Kyoutani is by his side. He still warily glances at Oikawa, but his focus is all on his son. Nudging Kindaichi to an upright position, he swipes a tongue over his head.

At just over three weeks old, his eyes are open and he wobbles around on all fours with determination. Not so much elegance, but definitely determination. Iwaizumi can see that both kittens inherited dark eye colour from their father, after the pearly blue of newly-opened eyes had settled. Whilst their coats are drastically different from Kyoutani’s sandy fur, their eyes and their personalities are identical in most ways. Oikawa gives a little _‘Prrrrip~?’_ of interest, and Kyoutani lunges at the fence again, snarling and hissing and spitting. Oikawa’s ears flatten. His hackles raise. For a moment, Iwaizumi fears – because he is not stupid – that he is caught between two big cats that are about to fight through a fence.

“Mew!” The tiny mew, so loud for a three week old kitten, instantly breaks the tension. In the time that Kyoutani and Oikawa have been standing off, Kindaichi had ambled over to the wiring. He taps it with one clumsy paw curiously. The fence rattles, just as it does when Kyoutani throws himself against it, but quieter and on a much smaller scale. It seems to please the kitten, so he does it again. And again. As the lynx kitten bats at the fence with growing enthusiasm, Kyoutani backs down, staring at Kindaichi like he’s questioning what the _fuck_ his son is doing. Even Oikawa blinks as if he’s enquiring about the activity. Both of them are so caught up in Kindaichi playing with the fence, that neither of them seem to notice each other anymore.

“... What do we do when he stops doing that?”

“Don’t ask me, you’re the sanctuary owner.” Iwaizumi shoots Tsukishima a look, but he only shrugs and turns his attention back to the big cats. Curious about the noise, Kunimi pokes his head out of the indoor area; one paw flopped over the step. He makes a noise somewhere between a squeak and a yowl that catches Kindaichi’s attention, turning around to squeak back at his brother. His paw automatically still hits the fence, but slower and clumsier. His sharp kitten claws snag on the wiring and as he drops his paw to the ground, the claw tugs and he squeals. Kyoutani lunges back into aggression, leaping at Oikawa and blaming the snow leopard for the kitten being in pain. Oikawa snarls back, ready to strike, and Iwaizumi knows he has to act fast. Tsukishima quickly moves forwards to help unhook Kindaichi’s claw from the fence, but Oikawa is still going to initiate a fight through the barrier if Iwaizumi isn’t quick enough and-

He throws all his weight against Oikawa, knocking the big cat away and crashing on the floor with a choked gasp of pain. He’s landed wrong. His elbow throbs and aches and he _knows_ something is wrong, but he’ll deal with that later. Scrambling back to his feet as Oikawa stalks towards the enclosure threateningly, Iwaizumi blocks his path, making himself appear as big as possible by lifting his jacket up over his head and swinging it around. The intimidating display distracts Oikawa and he backs down with a whimpered mewl. A little guiltily, Iwaizumi steers him back towards his own enclosure until Oikawa’s attention is entirely on following the path he escaped down, and thoughts of Kyoutani are out of his head. Sighing with relief, Iwaizumi drops his jacket back to cover him and winces at the twinge in his elbow. Attempts to roll up the sleeve as Oikawa drops to walk next to him are futile, too painful to actually reveal the main part of his elbow.

“Shit...” He breathes out steadily as the shock of the injury ebbs away and is replaced with excruciating stabs of pain, bringing prickling tears to the forefront of his eyes. Locking the door to Oikawa’s enclosure with the big cat inside and looping chains around to hold it is a difficult task, and it’s only when he’s nudged to the side, Iwaizumi relents in trying. He looks up to see Aone nod down at him. Tsukishima stands further off, an inkling of concern in his stoic features. He must have seen what had happened and immediately gone to fetch Aone, who is their on-site medic for the employees and volunteers. Aone finishes chaining up the gate as Oikawa attempts to brush his cheeks against the gentle giant, purring loudly. Then, Aone looks to where Iwaizumi is clutching at his elbow through the jacket and nods to the clothing.

“Off.” Iwaizumi attempts to shrug off his jacket, but he can’t actually move his elbow enough to take it off without feeling like he’s _ripping his arm off_ \- Aone frowns deeply, enough to wrinkle the bridge of his nose with worry, and dips appear in his cheeks. Iwaizumi hisses as he tugs his jacket back up.

“Don’t worry about it, s’probably just a... Sprain, or something.” 

“Iwaizumi-san, catch.” He turns just in time to see a bag of cat treats – something Tsukishima carries around – thrown towards him and reaches up to catch it. The motion is too much, too fast and a strangled cry escapes him as he pulls his elbow to his chest and cradles it behind his other arm. Aone doesn’t waste a second before he puts a hand on Iwaizumi’s back and guides him towards the main building with a hurried pace.

“Wh-What, no! I’m fine, Aone, It’s just a sprain!”

“Could be broken...” Iwaizumi stops trying to fight back in stunned silence as Aone leads him into the medical bay. Tsukishima stops short of following, pausing by Matsukawa’s enclosure. He side-eyes the caracal who does nothing but purr slyly, and rolls his eyes. Matsukawa stretches with a low trill, pacing alongside the fence by Tsukishima’s side, until he sighs and tosses one of the cat treats in for him. As the caracal pounces after it, Tsukishima takes a deep breath. How is he supposed to explain this to Hanamaki? The door to the house is still open from where Iwaizumi had shooed Oikawa out, so Tsukishima tentatively knocks.

“Hello...? Hanamaki-san?” Stepping in, he winces at the state of the kitchen. There’s movement from upstairs, and then Hanamaki’s sleepy voice floats down the stairs to let Tsukishima know he’s coming. He waits patiently, until Hanamaki arrives in the kitchen rubbing his eyes. He freezes, stares at the open fridge and muddy pawprint, and scowls.

“Oikawa...” As if this is an every day event, he carefully steps over to the coffee machine, picks it up, plugs it into the wall, and starts to run it. Lucky for him, it works. He sighs in relief and turn to Tsukishima with a casual, but tired grin.

“So wassup? You don’t normally come to visit.”

“Iwaizumi might be going to hospital.” The empty coffee cup slips from Hanamaki’s grasp, and he doesn’t even react when it shatters on the ground.

“Wh- What? What happened?!”

“Aone thinks it could be a broken bone. Uh, his elbow.” Hanamaki looks so intensely distressed, that Tsukishima shuffles awkwardly. When Hanamaki speaks, his voice is wet and shaky.

“Where is he now?”

“In- In the medical bay.” Tsukishima wisely steps aside as Hanamaki pushes past, sparing no second thought for the trashed kitchen or his state of dress – a sleeping gown with thin pyjamas underneath – to rush to his partners side. His husband, his best friend, the love of his life. Sitting in the medicine bay with potentially a broken bone and other injuries, since Hanamaki never asked how it happened.

“Hajime!” He bursts into the room, garnering attention as Aone jumps at the entrance and Iwaizumi flinches before smiling over at Hanamaki. Anybody else would have been reassured, but Hanamaki can tell there’s a slight twitch to the corner of his lips that wavers, holding back a sharp cry. Walking over quickly, Hanamaki pulls him into a gentle hug, careful of his elbows. He can instantly tell which one it is, since Iwaizumi’s left shoulder jolts like he’s been electrocuted. Loosening his hug, Hanamaki presses a gentle kiss to his cheek then peppers them up to Iwaizumi’s forehead, lingering for a moment before drawing away.

“What happened...?” With a sigh, Iwaizumi explains it as Aone uses very huge very scary scissors to cut away the sleeve of Iwaizumi’s jacket and peel it off. The flesh all around is elbow is bright purple and bruised and surprisingly pretty. The elbow itself, however...

Hanamaki gags and looks away as Iwaizumi pales, Aone’s gentle hands checking the broken bone. It’s definitely dislocated, if not fully broken. He looks just as troubled as the other two, especially since, well, Iwaizumi can barely move it without a grimace of pain. He makes his decision very quickly.

“Hospital.” Hanamaki nods, but Iwaizumi sharply shakes his head.

“What? No. I don’t need hospital. It’ll heal itself.” Hanamaki narrows his eyes.

“Hajime. I love you, but you’re a massive idiot. You’re going to hospital.” A staring match ensues, both of them wearing heavy pouts and stubborn faces until Aone gently nudges Iwaizumi’s elbow and he’s distracted with an _“Ow!”_. It settles the argument, and Hanamaki quickly pops back to the house to get dressed whilst Iwaizumi waits in the passenger seat of the sanctuary van, not happy about his situation at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What would you do if you found a Snow Leopard in _your_ fridge?

**Author's Note:**

> GOSH DAMN I LOVE BIG CATS.


End file.
